I'm procrastinating, so WTH----CLEMSON BASKETBALL GREATS - Andre Bovain

Sep 16, 2020, 2:20 PM

During his high school days, Andreus Maguell Bovain was a multi-sport athlete at Columbia's Keenan High School, and by his junior and senior year, he had made a name for himself as one of the premier basketball players in the Midlands area, playing a large part in the Keenan Raiders becoming a late 80's state basketball powerhouse. This was no small feat, with SC being rated the #1 basketball state in the nation in 1988, with talents like Shaun Golden, David Young, Jo Jo English, Stanley Roberts, and Everick Sullivan being just some of the emerging talent from the state.

With a skill set that was far more diverse than the Keenan student body, Bovain was a hot target in regional recruiting, and it was considered a major coup when Cliff Ellis landed his commitment for the incoming 90-91 class. Clemson basketball fans can easily be forgiven for the visions of championships that danced in their heads from this recruiting class that also included Tyrone Paul (left after one season because he was "homesick"), Steve Harris (transferred to Furman after two seasons), Eric Burks (academically ineligible after one season), Willie Shears (prop 48 non-qualifier), Jimmy Mason (played one season), and yes, that's right, Bruce F-ing Martin.

In his freshman year, Bovain also clearly suffered from homesickness, as the Clemson PD had interactions with him in 1991 when he rang up over $1000 in long distance charges on a stolen calling card. Later, in 1992, Bovain was suspended for five games (along with Sharone Wright, Wayne Buckingham, Kevin Hines, and yes, Bruce F-ing Martin) for "mis-use" of (translation-selling) their free family tickets. Through the stern discipline and unwavering moral guidance (snicker...I'm sorry, can't help it) of Cliff Ellis, he was brought back to the straight and narrow, where he became a true defensive shutdown threat for the Tigers, locking down such notable scorers as Bryant Stith, Jon Barry, Walt Williams, and the aforementioned Jo Jo English.

Speaking of lockdown, these years were where Bovain's life (already a model of ethical ambiguity), became surrounded by more criminal influences. He and Devin Gray were roommates with Kiki Graham, who was a non-athlete Clemson student, but also a member of the Black Mafia Family. Kiki and his partner Scott King (who played basketball at Mars Hill) had a major operation running coke between Atlanta and Greenville behind a business front in ATL customizing Bentleys, and ran in prominent celebrity circles that included Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley.

While Bovain attempted to make a career out of professional basketball, playing on the 76'ers practice squad and in the CBA, Iceland, and South America, the prospects eventually dried up. In 2004 both Bovain and Gray were arrested in Spartanburg on cocaine trafficking charges and eventually convicted in 2005 of those charges and served a sentence length that I am unable to determine in prison.

The last signs of Bovain that this author could find were serving as assistant coach to the now defunct PBL team, the "PeeDee Vipers", with head coach Larry Brown and GM Sharone Wright.